II. USING THE PERFECT TENSE FOR TIME

4. Other Adverbs Used with the Perfect Tense

Besides using 'for', 'since' and 'by' to indicate how long something has been happening, or when an action started, there are other time words which we use with the perfect tense to add details to the specific action being talked about:

Exercise 1: Write the appropriate time word in the blanks below.

The verb may be in the past, present, or future. Nhập câu trả lời vào ô trống.

1. Has she arrived _____? She was supposed to be here at 3 o'clock.
Trả lời:

2. I have _____ finished my research paper and now I'm going to hand it in.
Trả lời:

3. Have you _____ gone skydiving?
Trả lời:

4. No, I have _____ even been in an airplane. I'm afraid of heights.
Trả lời:

5. I haven't finished it _____. Can you give me another two hours?
Trả lời:

6. Emily had _____ left home when it began to rain. Luckily, she could easily go back and get her umbrella.
Trả lời:

7. _____, the project has gone well. We should be finished it within a few days.
Trả lời:

Exercise 2: Match the verb from the list below each with the sentences that it goes with it in the blanks below (the best context).

Then, write the correct form of the verb in the blank of the sentence with the matching context. Nhập câu trả lời vào ô trống.

Past: see, live, work, finish

1. He _____ for five years as a bookkeeper when he finally got a job as an accountant.
Trả lời:

2. They _____ watching TV when their friend showed up.
Trả lời:

3. Carlos _____ 40 movies by the time he was 10 years old.
Trả lời:

4. John _____ in London for 20 years when he finally moved back to the country where he was born.
Trả lời:

Present: own, practice, eat, study

5. Julia _____ sashimi. She is afraid to try it.
Trả lời:

6. Jackson _____ three cars since he was in high school.
Trả lời:

7. They are graduating the spring. On average, they _____ music at the academy over ten years.
Trả lời:

8. I started practicing serving tennis balls at 3:00 p.m., so I _____ for two hours.
Trả lời:

Future: fix, complete, travel

9. When Mustafa finally finishes fixing his car, he _____ the motor, the transmission and the front bumper.
Trả lời:

10. When Julia graduates, she _____ the requirements for a major in science and a minor in both math and engineering.
Trả lời:

11. Jakub _____ to five different countries after he comes back from his last trip to Morocco.
Trả lời:

Exercise 3: In this exercise, examine how the Perfect Tense is used for the past, present and future.

Reading this should help your brain to connect the abstract ideas of the perfect tense with how you could use it in real life.

Playing the Double Bass! Jane Little—An Inspiration

I play the double bass. You know, the violin that is big as a person and has a very 'deep' voice. It's called the double bass because it plays the same notes as the cello, only an octave lower. So, it 'doubles' the cello.

I started to play the double bass in high school because my father had given [past perfect] it to me as a gift. I played it for a while but then got busy with other things in life, and I quit. Then, I started playing it again as an adult. Here is my story.

Past

When I finally quit playing [this is the later time marker] the double bass, I had played the double bass for about 5 years. I had started to play the bass in high school. Then, I went to college, and I continued to play the bass. Even though I had never played in an orchestra before [from the time I was born], and I was no longer a youth, I joined the local youth orchestra. By the time I had graduated from college, I had played in the youth orchestra for three years [total time].

Soon, however, I got busy with my chosen career, and I quit playing the bass. Then, one day, I remembered my days of playing the bass, and I thought, "I should start playing again." So, I found a local community orchestra and started to play with them.

Present (with some past)

Today, I am still playing with this community orchestra. At this point in time, I have played with the orchestra for about five years now. Since starting to play the bass again, it has always been challenging. I have taken lessons and have learned many new things. I have played with some very good musicians and (have) made many new friends. By the end of the last season, I had played eight of Beethoven's major symphonies and other works.

I don't know how long I will continue to play the double bass. It is a difficult instrument to play, and it is hard on the body. By the time I am old, I don't know how long I will have played for. My body will have been beaten up by the bass. I will have probably developed back problems and neck problems. However, what gives me hope is that I do know of one woman, Jane Little, who started playing the double bass with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in 1945 at the age of 16. She actually died while playing a concert with the orchestra at the age of 87. When she died, she had played with the orchestra for 71 years. They said that she literally died doing what she loved. I hope that someday I will have played for as long as she did.

Questions for writing practice:

Past

1. How long had the writer been playing the double bass when he/she quit (after playing in a professional orchestra)?
Trả lời:

2. The youth Orchestra which the writer played for in the past asked the writer to play the double bass with them even though the writer had not done something yet. What had the writer not done?
Trả lời:

3. For how long had the writer not played the bass when he began to play it again?
Trả lời:

Present

4. For how long has the writer been playing the bass after starting to play again?
Trả lời:

5. Since starting to play the bass again, what has the writer's experience been like? What are some things that the writer has experienced or done?
Trả lời:

Future

6. What will have happened to the writer's body by the time he/she gets old?
Trả lời:

7. For how long had Jane Little been playing double bass with the Atlantic Symphony when she died?
Trả lời:

Exercise 4: Using the Past Perfect Tense, write about three things you did in the past (that you are no longer doing).

Be sure to identify when you stopped doing them? For how long did you do them?
Example: When I finally finished my project last week (when I stopped doing it), I had worked on it for two weeks.

1.

2.

3.

Exercise 5: Using the Present Perfect Tense, write about three things that you have completed recently or have just completed.

For how long have you done them to this point in the present?
Example: I have worked on my resume for four days.

1.

2.

3.

Exercise 6: Using the Future Perfect Tense, write about three things that you will complete in the future.

Maybe you have already started them, but they will be complete in the future. How much time, work or effort do you think it will take you to complete them?
Example: By this time next year, I will have owned my car for four years and will have driven it for about 150,000 kilometers.

1.

2.

3.